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<font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=5>Please send any changes or comments
to the list. Also, somebody might want to extract the list of who
volunteered to do what and send it to the list. <br>
-Peter<br>
<br>
<br>
IMC Notes<br>
01/21/01<br>
at 218 W. Main (The IMC)<br>
<br>
Attending (26 present): Paul Riismandel, Brent McDonald, Matthew
Murray, Mike Lehman, Paul Kotheimer, Peter Miller, Carol Pilgrim, Corey
Hardin, Jackson, Crystal, Danielle Chynoweth, Brian Hagy, Ian McDermott,
Tim Gotsch, Ellen Knutsen, Molly Stentz, Sarah Carsey, Sehvilla Mann, Ed
Mandel, Mark Enslin, Sascha Meinrath, Eric Hiltner, Pauline Bartolone,
Nancy Dietrick-Riebecki, Russ Dietrick-Riebecki, Maria Silva.<br>
<br>
Paul Riismandel facilitated.<br>
<br>
Additions/changes to a proposed agenda were discussed.<br>
<br>
Sascha sent around a sign-up for people to staff the space. <br>
<br>
<b>Updates<br>
</b><i>Space-</i>-Molly requested that we organize the production room,
soon. Brian, Paul K, Crystal, Molly, Peter volunteered and will set
up a time to meet. Danielle noted that the production room was
unlocked when she arrived on Saturday morning. People should follow
the shut-down procedure if they're the last one out. Sascha has a
list of key holders, and Molly will manage the combination to the
production room door. Danielle suggested that the production/tech
committees teach people how to use the production room.<br>
<br>
<i>Outreach</i>--We'll leave for Springfield on Wednesday, Jan. 24.
Paul will drive. People will leave no later than 4 p.m. from the
IMC. The trip is to help folks in Springfield start their own
IMC. They've widely publicized our visit. Web allies:
Sascha asked that somebody locate web sites to link to the IMC.
Paul Riismandel, Tim Gotsch, Carol Pilgrim, and Sascha volunteered to do
it. National Association of Black Journalists: Sascha has
been in contact with the local student group, and they're interested in
working with us.<br>
<br>
<i>Fundraising</i>--Sascha: Open house raised over $650, net gain was
over $300. We're currently at $1450/month. Molly: We
sent our first grant application last week. Fundraising meets
Monday, Jan. 22 at 7:30 p.m. at IMC. Will discuss guidelines for general
membership <br>
<br>
<i>Librarians</i>--Ellen: Group meets at 5:15 every Thursday.
At last meeting, decided not to circulate our collection because we don't
know who it should be circulated to. Next meeting, will discuss
organizing materials at IMC. Group is soliciting journal
subscriptions--see list of needed journals, next to bathroom.
<br>
<br>
<i>Tech</i>--Zach issued a report that Paul read. The big issue
will be labor for electrical work. On-line community
calendar. People have said that IMC needs to host a
public-updateable calendar of events. Problems are arising from
people multiple-booking the IMC space. Danielle asked for someone
to take over email list maintenance; she will train her
replacement. <br>
<br>
<i>Equipment</i>--Peter donated to IMC a device to record phone
conversations; he asked that it not be removed from the IMC. Brent
emphasized the fairly urgent need to build a darkroom. Ian, Russ,
Molly, and Brent will plan it; and Eric and Mike will help build
it.<br>
<br>
<i>News--</i>Plan a news meeting. People interested in news
production will set a meeting time after the general meeting.<br>
<br>
<b>OPEN HOUSE<br>
</b>A huge success! We raised a net of about $300 through sales of
t-shirts and stickers, and cash into the donation box. Picked up
two new founding funders! Attendance was 70-80 people, probably
more because of people coming and going. WEFT staff, Octopus staff,
WILL-AM staff, MicroFilm publisher, Community Times publisher were all
here. The food was great, people were reading the news stories,
people were generally impressed. <br>
<br>
To do better, next time: get a list of everyone who came in the
door. We probably missed a large number of people. Keep track
of public suggestions for the space. Put up wish lists for things
we need, in addition to periodicals. Be able to tell people when we
would be open. <br>
<br>
Perhaps open houses can become somewhat regular events. Crystal
suggested that we display our work, periodically. Final open house
notes: Garbage needs to be emptied, recycling and compost need to
go. Please take it home!<br>
<br>
<b>ORGANIZATION PROPOSAL:<br>
</b>Paul and Ellen wrote up a proposal which they circulated via
email. The questions to address:<br>
1) Should the group be broken down into a "steering group" and
"working groups"?<br>
2) Who's in the steering group and what does it do?<br>
<br>
Paul presented the proposal, and lengthy discussion followed (see
attached appendix for a rough transcript). People expressed some
reservations about the need for a steering group and its composition, but
they generally supported the idea.<br>
<br>
People should send their desires for the general meetings to Molly
(molly@onthejob.net).<br>
<br>
At Pauline's recommendation, proposals for improvements to the
organizational proposal should be written up and sent to Paul Riismandel
(p-riism@uiuc.edu). Anyone who wants to help incorporate ideas into
the proposal should contact Paul or Ellen
(knutson@shout.net/278-2274)<br>
<br>
Next time, Molly will present peoples' desires for a the Sunday meetings.
Paul, Ellen and anyone else who wants to help will try to craft a revised
proposal for presentation next week. <br>
<br>
All were encouraged to read all email messages about the organizational
proposal, before the next meeting.<br>
<br>
fin.<br>
<br>
Peter will facilitate next week, 1/28/01, Noon at the IMC.<br>
<br>
Meeting concluded at 2:20 p.m.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<b>Appendix: Discussion of the organizational proposal<br>
<br>
</b>The reasons for having a steering group are: to streamline
operations, to protect ourselves as a group in a formal way from being
"raided" by groups with a hostile agenda (cf. KOOP in Austin's
takeover by the christian right). Sascha added that it enhances
communication within the organization, and it helps make decisions about
how to allocate funds. Ellen added that as IMC membership grows,
IMC will not be able to include them in decisions (it's too
unwieldy). A representative system helps give voice to larger
groups of people. It helps to avoid stalemates.<br>
<br>
Mike stated that people need to be empowered to take the initiative to do
the work. The proposal makes a good balance between authority and
responsibility--people are included in decisions, but the organization
has mechanisms to get things done quickly and effectively.<br>
<br>
Paul K. raised several questions and stated that he isn't convinced of
the need. What constitutes a concern that requires that someone be
excluded from a decision. <br>
<br>
Paul R.: It's not about exclusion, rather, 1) if 200 people join
the IMC, all 200 can't be involved in decisions. 2) What subgroup
would we choose to make decisions?<br>
<br>
PK would rather accomplish the goals of the proposal without formalizing
a steering group. <br>
<br>
Brent said that the proposal is good--it rewards those who do the work
and offers mechanisms for others to become involved. <br>
<br>
Eric argued that it's important that decisionmakers have an investment in
the process.<br>
<br>
Mike: Decisions need to be made. The proposal is good because
it favors consensus but allows a mechanism to make decisions in the
absence of consensus. Fears that individuals will obstruct the
group, and make us vulnerable to hostile takeover.<br>
<br>
Brian: What would the general membership meeting do? (Why necessary?) And
would six people be making decisions for all?<br>
<br>
PR: General membership has ultimate executive power--approval of
policies, e.g., and keep cohesion of group. Steering group plus
people with an investment in a decision make decisions; if no consensus
among this larger group, then the steering group can make a
decision.<br>
<br>
Tim: Has been involved in other organizations--it's about ceding
responsibility or power to working groups. If the general public
that comes to steering committee meetings...<br>
<br>
Why steering group not necessary? PK: Convinced that a subgroup
with authority should exist. Concerned about a steering group being
used to break stalemates. Consensus is real in this way: When
a potential or prospective member has an objection, they can speak by
extracting their resources (their time or money). We need to be
careful about consensus being complete.<br>
<br>
MS: Reservations about proposal. People with the loudest
voices might end up on the steering group; wouldn't want to segregate
them because they attract people and help orient and plug-in
newcomers. At next meeting, would like to have a go-around finding
out what people want to do at these general meetings.
Decisionmaking? News? Other?<br>
<br>
PR: Term limits in proposal may help resolve.<br>
<br>
People should send their desires for the general meetings to Molly
(molly@onthejob.net).<br>
<br>
At Pauline's recommendation, proposals for improvements to the
organizational proposal should go to Paul Riismandel
(p-riism@uiuc.edu)<br>
<br>
Danielle: We should keep a running list of principles of
organization that we find important so that we don't get caught in
technical legal arguments. Rather we should collect principles that
guide us: e.g. (roughly--I didn't catch them all accurately) We try
to resolve conflicts, we come together in good faith, we assume that we
have reasons to trust each other, that we're committed to media
production, every person is responsible for thinking of the long-term
health of the organization. <br>
<br>
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